Has anyone tried this vitamin? It is suppose to be new and has policosanol in it to help lower bp and cholesterol. My mom purchased a bottle from wal-mart and tried taking it but she stopped bcuz she said her heart hurt.

Is that possible? She is taking other bp meds and thyroid meds only. Also insulin.

Has anyone tried this vitamin? It is suppose to be new and has policosanol in it to help lower bp and cholesterol. My mom purchased a bottle from wal-mart and tried taking it but she stopped bcuz she said her heart hurt.

Is that possible? She is taking other bp meds and thyroid meds only. Also insulin.



Lane,


Sady that is a big problem with supplements.
No-one can know how they interact with meds because they are not tested. In some cases they can be dangerous.

Lane,

I doubt that a vitamin supplement will cause a person's heart to hurt. However, as a rule of thumb, it is generally recommended that prescription medicines and supplements should always be taken at least an hour apart.

lane,

I don't think policosanol has much of an effect on Lipid numbers. A couple people here tried it and got no results.

Lane,

One-a-Day says it is to maintain cholesterol that is already in the 'normal' range. I doubt this vitamin will lower your cholesterol.

As far as policosanol goes - look it up on the web.

If you buy the brand made from Sugar Cane (not bees wax), there are numerous clinical studies (mostly from Cuba) that prove that it is very effective in lowering LDL. It raises HDL more than the statins do.

Policosanol has been used extensively in Europe also - with very few side effects.

It takes about 8-12 weeks to work. You take it with your evening meal in about a 10mg dose. I just started taking a brand called 'Policosanol 10' by Rx Vitamins. I get it from Dr. Ronald Hoffman.

It is surely a good alternative to explore if you can't tolerate statins, or are afraid of their side effects.

Regards,

HubbleRules
:cool: :cool:

My mom purchased a bottle from wal-mart and tried taking it but she stopped bcuz she said her heart hurt.

Is that possible? She is taking other bp meds and thyroid meds only. Also insulin.


Lane,

I would check a "drug-interaction" reference or web-site to see if the meds your mom is taking are negatively interacting with one another.

Doctors are not very good at knowing the interactions of all the drugs out there - and there are some dangerous combos.

I know for a fact: my doctor prescribed Tricor in addition to the Lipitor I had been on for years, and I got a very bad case of statin-induced muscle pain and weakness that lasted over 8 months. After the fact I did research on my own and found that these 2 drugs are not recommended to be taken in combination - that they increase the incidence of muscle problems from statins 25 fold. I don't think my doctor even realized this.

I'm sure you'll be able to find a site where you can plug-in your mom's drugs and see if there are any known interactions.

You should also search for Policosanol plus the drugs your mom takes to see if there is any interaction there.

Best of luck,

HubbleRules
:cool:

Hi,
I last posted about a month ago about my reaction to Zocor. Have now been off Zocor since April 22 and am feeling much better regarding muscle pain and liver function. My last liver function test was back to normal, but now of course, cholesterol is up to 294 and triglycerides and LDL are very high. Am trying to walk every day and watch diet, but that is hard. Am wondering if I should try policosanol...
am not seeing endocrinologist until July 15. As before, these boards and your input are so helpful!!
Benny

Hi,
I last posted about a month ago about my reaction to Zocor. Have now been off Zocor since April 22 and am feeling much better regarding muscle pain and liver function. My last liver function test was back to normal, but now of course, cholesterol is up to 294 and triglycerides and LDL are very high. Am trying to walk every day and watch diet, but that is hard. Am wondering if I should try policosanol...
am not seeing endocrinologist until July 15. As before, these boards and your input are so helpful!!
Benny

Benny,
I use vytorin which is a mixture of Zocor and Zetia. Obviously this may not be good for you due to the Zocor aspect BUT you may wish to talk to your doctor about Zetia only.
This is not considered a Statin, from what I know, and blocks cholesterols in the small intestine before it ever gets in your blood.

May be worth a try :)

Hi,
I last posted about a month ago about my reaction to Zocor. Have now been off Zocor since April 22 and am feeling much better regarding muscle pain and liver function. My last liver function test was back to normal, but now of course, cholesterol is up to 294 and triglycerides and LDL are very high. Am trying to walk every day and watch diet, but that is hard. Am wondering if I should try policosanol...
am not seeing endocrinologist until July 15. As before, these boards and your input are so helpful!!
Benny


Deaclady,

Since you seem to be having a muscular problem with Zocor, I would be concerned about going back on it.

Policosanol has had good results lowering LDL and raising HDL in clinical studies. I just started Policosanol (10mg) a week ago, and I don't have my next blood test for another 3 weeks - so I can't say it works for me yet. I will post my results, although I think it takes longer than 4 weeks to take full effect.

The brand I get is 'Policosanol 10' from RxVitamins. It can be purchased from Dr. Ronald Hoffman. Wherever you get you get the Policosanol from, make sure it is made from Sugar Cane, nothing else. Avoid any brands made from BeesWax - they do not lower cholesterol.

As far as your muscle pain goes, try taking 100-200mg of CoQ10 daily. Statins deplete this substance from your body, and it is thought that this is responsible for the muscle pains some experience on statins.

Good luck,

HubbleRules
:cool:

Thanks to all of you for your insight into this cholesterol mess. My mom didn't take more than two pills. I don't know it that's what caused her pain or what, but i will be going to the dr with her next week. I will take ALL her meds and supplements with us to show the dr.
Also, i did a search and it didn't mention anything about this particullar supplement. thanks again for the help.

To Stumper and Hubblerules:
Thanks for the advice about the Zetia and policosanol. Since I have a month before I see endocrinologist for first time, I am going to get some of the cinnamon capsules I read about today. I'm beginning to feel like a pharmacy myself!! I go buy everything I see all of you posting about and am now taking a little bit of everything! I guess I really need to settle on one thing and stick to it...it just takes so long between appts. and having blood checked for cholesterol readings. Since I began this "nightmare" in April with being so ill that weekend and having the "iced tea" colored urine and chills and itching and severe muscle aches, I have not seen my doctor. So, I am looking forward to seeing endoc. dr. and getting his take on all of this. I intend to ask him about all of these things mentioned on these boards (about supplements). I'm anxious to see if he is as unconcerned as my regular dr!! I'm off to buy cinnamon!
Deaclady

Policosanol is a natural blood thinner according to my limited research. I'd ask a doctor first. I took this product for a week, and I felt a little odd at times; hard to describe the feeling. I feel better now.

Policosanol is a natural blood thinner according to my limited research. I'd ask a doctor first. I took this product for a week, and I felt a little odd at times; hard to describe the feeling. I feel better now.

Smyrnaboy,

It just goes to show that we can all react differently to the same med, the same supplement. Nothing is universally good for everyone...

You are right, Policosanol does have a blood-thinning effect, so should not be used in combination with Warafin, and with caution with daily aspirin therapy.

I have been on it for about 2 weeks now - and have not noticed the slightest 'odd' feeling (but then I'm a little ODD to begin with, and so I probably wouldn't notice...).

I'm very interested in seeing if by June 24th (my next blood test) it will have made a significant difference in my HDL/LDL ratio...

HubbleRules


:cool: